The State of the Game: Baseball's Real Problem: Part 1: It All Starts at the Top

What is wrong with baseball? Why have so many star players been outed for juicing? Why were they juicing in the first place?

Why are salaries skyrocketing out of control? Why do teams like the Marlins develop great talent only to contend for a couple of years and then trade their whole team away?

Why are teams like the Yankee$ allowed to have a monopoly on free agency? Why do small market teams go to Spring Training with no realistic shot at winning a division?

I will attempt to answer those questions with this four-part series that I have entitled “The State of the Game: The Real Problems Facing Baseball.”

The first answer to those many questions is Bud Selig.

Selig officially took the reins of baseball in 1992. Since then some good things have happened for the game.

He instituted the Wild Card for the playoffs, and the restructuring of the divisions that went along with that.

He is also credited with establishing revenue sharing among the big and small market teams.

Unfortunately, leaders are usually held more accountable for the bad things that happen on their watch as opposed to the great things that happen.

And for Selig, the bad things have been really bad and are only getting worse.

Some of the game’s most sacred records have been tarnished. Some of the game’s biggest names have been sullied. And some of the prestigious awards have been rendered meaningless. All of this is due to steroids.

In Selig’s defense, by all accounts, the steroid era started before he moved into the commissioner’s office. But the fact that it hit its peak and was running rampant for most of the 1990’s and early 2000’s rests squarely on Selig’s shoulders.

He watched guys like Barry Bonds, and Mark McGwire, go from size medium to monster literally overnight. Nothing was ever mentioned about steroids.

When Andro was found in McGwire’s locker there was a small uproar but nothing ever came from it. Bonds was a five-tool athlete in Pittsburgh. There was no reason to suspect him until he left for the Bay.

Of course after the 1994 strike, which Bud was partially responsible for, the game needed some heroes. The game needed a summer like 1998 when McGwire and Sammy Sosa went head-to-head chasing Roger Maris’ hallowed single-season HR record.

Let’s just face it. Some fans still haven’t come back after the ’94 strike. Some fans are still bitter about that. But the vast majority came flocking back during that stretch.

Remember the commercial with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine? “Chicks dig the long ball.” Truth is EVERYONE digs the long ball.

The 90’s and early 2000’s were a golden era for home runs and for Major League Baseball.

That is until baseball got caught with its hand in the cookie jar.

Who can forget the “surprised” looks by everyone involved? Who can forget the congressional hearing in which our heroes denied, ducked, and dodged questions regarding the issue?

You mean to tell me that Congress believes steroids was a problem in baseball and the commissioner; the top dog; the head honcho; had no clue what was going on?

I firmly believe Selig turned his head for the good of the game. I firmly believe Bud Selig knew exactly what was going on, but decided not to do anything about it because the game was more popular than it had ever been.

Now focusing on the strike. Selig was still an owner when the strike took place. As a matter of fact Selig was a minority owner of the Brewers until 1998.

Say what you want about the player’s union, but the strike was just as much the owners' fault as it was the players. The owners got greedy and the players knew it.

The only difference now is that the owners are greedier and the players have caught up with them in that aspect. But now you add out-of-control agents to the mix and you have ballooning salaries and even more ballooning bodies.

Players are getting huge salaries in part because a lot of them juiced. The elite athletes were involved in the steroids mess and because of the inflated numbers we see inflated salaries.

Baseball needs two caps. A salary cap is needed on how much teams are allowed to spend and a cap is needed on the owners to limit how much they can make.

If teams make over the limit (ex. NY Yankee$, NY Met$, Boston Red $ox) that money should be placed into a pool to distribute evenly among the lower revenue teams.

I know there’s more to it than the commissioner just saying it and it happening. But he can introduce it. He can influence the owners to try to bring it up.  

This commissioner isn’t going anywhere soon though. He is signed through 2012 to preside over baseball. All this despite the two worst crises the game has ever seen have happened on his watch.

The next article will focus on a player’s union that has way too much power. Please check back on Sunday for Part Two of this four-part series.